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I 

THE “FROM A TO Z COMPANY. 



The “From A to Z 
Company” 

By Arthur T, Crane 

l| 



Published by 

David C. Cook Publishing Co. 
Elgin, Illinois. 



Copyright, 1911 , 

By David C. Cook Publishing Co., 
Elgin, Illinois. 


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$ D.|^ 


©CI,A303ir6 


The “From A to Z Company’* 


By ARTHUR T. CTiANE 


CHAPTER I. 

M arian had been reading Little Women.” As she 
closed the book on the adventures of that fascinat- 
ing quartet of sisters, she felt a rather unusual 
sense of loneliness. She shut her eyes and tried to imag- 
ine what it would be like to have a Meg and Jo and Beth, 
or an Amy and Beth and Jo in the next room. And the 
picture her fancy conjured up was so pleasant that she 
sighed. 

Aunt Cornelia, coming into the library at that moment, 
started nervously and cast an inquiring glance in Marian’s 
direction. An observing person might have noticed that 
these nervous starts and anxious glances were charac- 
teristic of Aunt Cornelia lately, also that she was very 
absent-minded and inclined to give the most amazing an- 
swers to the simplest questions. Marian, however, was 
not an observing person. She had not noticed anything 
unusual in Aunt Cornelia. 

“ Is anything the matter, Marian ?” asked Aunt Cor- 
nelia. She spoke as if she expected an answer in the 
affirmative. And it was noticeable, too, that she seemed 
to be nerving herself for an ordeal. Marian, busily think- 

5 


6 


THE “F2^0M A TO Z COMPAQ: 


ing of the imaginary sisters in the next room, did not 
realize that there was anything peculiar in her aunt’s 
manner. 

“ I was only thinking, Aunt Cornelia,” she replied 
plaintively, “ that it’s rather hard to be the only child in 
the family.” Marian had never had any brothers or sis- 
ters. Her father and mother had died within a few 
weeks of each other when she was very small, and she 
had come to live with her bachelor uncle and his un- 
married sister, who kept house for him. Everything that 
love could do had made her life a happy one, and it never 
occurred to her to envy girls with fathers and mothers. 
But sometimes, as now, she was inclined to pity herself 
for her solitary state. “ It would be so nice,” she con- 
tinued, lifting her eyes to her Aunt Cornelians face, “ if 
there were some other girls around the house.” 

Aunt Cornelia’s expression was very peculiar indeed. 
It was a strange mingling of incredulous surprise, and 
unreasonable delight. “ Do — do you feel that way about 
it, Marian?” she inquired, with a little gasp. 

It was one of Marian’s weaknesses to be fond of sym- 
pathy; so fond of it, indeed, that she was sometimes 
tempted to manufacture grievances, for the sake of mak- 
ing people sorry for her. At her aunt’s question, she 
heaved another sigh. 

“ You don’t know what it’s like. Aunt Cornelia,” she 
said. “ You had brothers when you were a girl. Of 
course brothers aren’t quite like sisters, but they’re very 
nice — the nice ones, anyway. Only children have a 
dreadfully hard time. Nobody knows without trying — ” 

Marian stopped short. Aunt Cornelia’s face was under- 
going a change, apparent even to her unobservant eyes. 
She looked amazingly cheerful, considering the melan- 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


7 


choly character of the confidences to which she was 
listening. Marian's confession of her loneliness seemed 
for some inexplicable reason to have brought relief to 
Aunt Cornelia. The phenomenon was so extraordinary 
that Marian lost the thread of her remarks, floundered, 
and came to a full stop. 

“ I'm very glad to hear you say this, Marian," ex- 
claimed Aunt Cornelia beaming. ‘‘ Very glad, indeed. 
Because your wish seems likely to come true, before very 
long." 

There was a rather constrained silence. Marian looked 
puzzled, rather than pleased. Aunt Cornelia, though 
launched upon her story, seemed to find progress difficult. 

“ Last summer, my dear," Aunt Cornelia continued 
presently, “you will remember your Uncle Tom spent in 
the Adirondacks, while we went down on the farm. And 
while away, he made the acquaintance of a very charm- 
ing lady — a widow — with five children, two boys and 
three girls." 

Marian said nothing. But her heart began to beat 
violently, as if she had been running. 

“ They are to be married very soon," Aunt Cornelia 
continued, hurrying a little, as if she were anxious to get 
to the end. “ And the whole family will come here to live. 
You will have your wish very quickly, you see. You are 
not going to be an only child much longer." 

Marian found her voice suddenly. “ Uncle Tom going 
to be married !" she cried incredulously. “ Why, I never 
heard of such a thing." Marian had always looked upon 
Uncle Tom and Aunt Cornelia as her own especial prop- 
erty. The thought of sharing her uncle with a wife and 
five step-children was startling in the extreme. The 
sympathy she had felt for herself as a lonely “ only " 


8 


THE ^^EUOM A TO Z COMPAISIY: 


child was swallowed up by her pity for. herself as dis- 
possessed of what had so long been hers. Instinctively 
she clutched the arms of her chair. Everything seemed 
to be giving way. Nothing was stable. She felt the 
need of holding fast to something. 

Aunt Cornelia smiled rather ruefully. 

It is not strange that your uncle should marry,” she 
said, though he has waited so long. No one deserves 
happiness more than he, arid I am glad he has found it.” 

As a matter of fact. Aunt Cornelia had found her 
brother's plan most startling and upsetting, but with 
characteristic unselfishness she had refused to think what 
these changes would mean in her life. If only her brother 
was happy, she would be happy, too. Her chief anxiety 
was for Marian. To become one of six, after having been 
the only child, would prove, she was sure, a hard experi- 
ence. As a rule families grow by degrees, and the first- 
comer has a chance to become used to the new additions 
gradually. But the advent of five brothers and sisters, 
of varying ages, at one time, was something demanding 
considerable diplomacy. The relief she had felt when 
Marian expressed a wish for other children in the house 
did not last long when she perceived Marian’s dismay 
over the discovery that her wish was going to come true. 

The next few weeks Marian’s imagination worked over- 
time, trying to realize the changes necessitated by the 
new order of things. It had been planned that both Aunt 
Cornelia and Marian should attend the wedding, but 
Keziah, the cook, had a bad rheumatic attack, the very 
week they were to start, and as paper-hangers and painters 
were expected. Aunt Cornelia felt she could not leave. 
So Uncle Tom kissed them good-by blithely, and went 
off happy as a boy. They would not see him again for 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


9 


six weeks, but that was not the reason for the tears which 
blinded Marian's eyes as she looked after him. When he 
came back everything would be different. His wife would 
be with him, and the children. Marian began to realize 
that hitherto she had occupied a very prominent place in 
the household, and that henceforth she would be a much 
less important figure. It's the same thing as dividing 
an apple by six," thought Marian. That's very different 
from eating it yourself." 

She was inclined to resent the presence of the deco- 
rators. The dirt and confusion and hard work were bad 
enough in themselves, but she felt in addition a sense of 
indignation that the coming of these strangers should 
necessitate such changes. What was good enough for 
them, should be good enough for Uncle Tom's new wife 
and her family. She fell into the way of referring to 
them in her thoughts as “ the Zimmermans." The 
foreign sound of the name seemed to put a new barrier 
between herself and them, though as a matter of fact, the 
ancestor of the family had crossed the seas several gen- 
erations back. One morning she discovered a new cause 
for a grievance. 

“ I have thought, dear," began Aunt Cornelia, that it 
will be the best arrangement for you and Alice to room 
together." 

“ Alice ?’* Marian repeated. “ Why, you don't mean 
that I’ve got to let Alice have part of my room, do you?" 
Her tone was so indignant that Aunt Cornelia looked 
uneasy. 

“ There will be quite a household of us, dear," she said. 

I plan to give Arthur and his brother the back room on 
the third floor, and the two other little folks will have 
the room next their mother. But that leaves Alice un- 


10 


THE FROM A TO Z COMPATVY.” 


provided for, unless we give her the spare room.” 

There was a pause. “ I suppose she’ll have to have 
half the drawers in the dresser,” Marian exclaimed in a 
distressed voice. 

Aunt Cornelia nodded. 

“ And half the closet.” 

“ It’s a very large closet,” said Aunt Cornelia, trying 
to speak cheerfully. 

“ And she — why, she’ll think everything belongs to her 
as much as to me. Maybe she’ll leave things lying 
around.” Marian, who carried neatness to almost a fool- 
ish extreme, felt the tears starting to her eyes. 

“ Then we will put Alice in the spare room for the 
present,” said Aunt Cornelia. “ But whenever we have 
company, some of us will have to give up our rooms.” 

“ Oh, no. I’ll take Alice with me.” Marian looked the 
martyr and spoke like one. That very afternoon she 
transferred her clothes to one side of the closet, counting 
the hooks very carefully, to be sure that she was not 
taking an unfair advantage, and left two of the bureau 
drawers empty. She even considered hanging her pic- 
tures on one wall, leaving the rest of the space free for 
whatever Alice might bring, but her pride in her pretty 
room came to the rescue in time to keep her from doing 
anything so foolish. 

It is surprising how rapidly six weeks will pass when 
one rather dreads to see the end. The day came when 
the house was in order from garret to cellar, with flowers 
in every room, and Aunt Cornelia, looking tired and rather 
anxious, went about straightening the pictures, and giv- 
ing little twitches to the rugs, and doing a number of 
unnecessary things, rather as though she had fallen into 
the habit of doing so much that she didn’t quite know 











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13 


how to stop. And Marian, in her best white dress, tried 
to play on the piano, and stopped every other minute, 
thinking she heard wheels, and when at last she did hear 
them, was seized with a panic which carried her straight 
through the house out at the back door. If she had not 
met Keziah, there is no telling where she would have 
stopped, but Keziah caught her arm. 

“ Whatever are you about, running off like you was 
scared, with your uncle at the gate? Hurry back now, 
or it’ll look as if you wasn’t glad to see him.” 

By the time Marian reached the front door. Uncle 
Tom’s new family was alighting. There were two hacks. 
And the crowd at the gate did look rather imposing. 
Some of the neighbors were looking out behind their 
curtains, smiling and interested. Uncle Tom had his 
arms around Aunt Cornelia and was hugging her hard. 

“ Where’s my little girl ?” Marian heard him shout. 
“ Why isn’t she here to welcome her old uncle home ?” 
And for an instant Marian forgot all about her new Aunt 
Elizabeth, and “ the Zimmerman’s,” and ran down the 
walk, straight into the arms which had opened to receive 
her, a homeless little orphan. She cuddled up against 
Uncle Tom’s heart and kissed him twice before she re- 
membered that she was no longer an only child. 

“ Don’t be selfish, Tom !” It was a laughing voice that 
recalled Marian to actuality. “ Don’t you suppose the 
rest of us want a peep at the child?” And then Marian 
was passed on to another pair of arms that promptly 
enfolded her. I never did like odd numbers,” said the 
new Aunt Elizabeth, kissing her. Now that I’ve got 
six. I’m perfectly happy.” 

There were no two ways about liking Aunt Elizabeth, 
Marian prompdy decided. No one could help it. In 


14 THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPAFlYr 

spite of her gray hair she looked very young, and unde- 
niably charming. Her cheeks were as pink as Marian’s 
own and dimpled when she smiled, which, judging from 
short acquaintance, seemed to be most of the time. 
Though she had made a long journey that day, she looked 
fresh and unflurried. 

‘‘ And now let’s make these cousins acquainted,” said 
Aunt Elizabeth, her arm still around Marian. “ Here’s 
Arthur, the biggest of the six.” 

Arthur, a freckled, pleasant-faced lad, shook hands a 
little awkwardly, but Alice, his sister, came forward and 
kissed Marian. Her mother uttered a little cry. 

“ They’d pass for twins. There’s not an inch between 
them.” She made them stand back to back, and meas- 
ured them, before she realized that the introductions were 
not complete. 

“ The idea ! Here poor Alfred and Annie are waiting 
for a word with their new cousin, and dear little Ade- 
laide.” 

In her surprise over an astonishing discovery, Marian 
almost forgot the faces raised to hers. 

“ Why,” she cried, they’re all A’s, every single one.” 

“ Every one of us is A Zimmerman,” observed Arthur 
proudly. “ We call ourselves the ‘ From A to Z Com- 
pany.’ ” 


-o- 


CHAPTER II. 

W HATEVER else might result from the .advent of 
the “ A to Z Company ’’ into the Maxwell house- 
hold, one thing was sure. There was no more 
loneliness for anybody. The youthful Zimmermans were 
not obtrusive children, but it never seemed to occur to 
any of them that their society might be unwelcome. They 
pervaded the house like a breeze, and kept things stirring. 

Owing to the way she had been brought up, doubtless, 
Marian was rather a prim little soul, fond of getting 
away by herself to work out her small problems or to 
lay her little plans. Under the new order of things, this 
was no longer possible. Hardly was she ensconced in 
some quiet corner before Arthur appeared, ready for one 
of the arguments in which he delighted. Arthur never 
cared which side he was on, so long as it was the other 
side; or Alice brought her embroidery and sat down for 
a chat, or little Adelaide came with a doll to be admired 
or a scratched finger to be pitied, or someone shouted her 
name from the lower hall, and gave her no peace till she 
responded. Marian was not lonely any longer, but some- 
times she felt that loneliness would be welcome as a 
change. 

The newcomers were all winning golden opinions. 
Aunt Cornelia had fallen in love with the family, col- 
lectively and individually. They had adopted her prompt- 
ly, and called her Aunt Cornelia,’’ just as Marian did, 
and, because the Zimmermans were a demonstrative set, 
Aunt Cornelia got more hugs and kisses and promiscuous 
petting than ever before in her life. Keziah, who liked 
large families, was in her element. She made batches of 

15 


16 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


cookies and gingersnaps for no reason in the world ex- 
cept the pleasure of having the children come and tease 
for them. Marian was rather slow to make friends with 
strangers, but the youthful Zimmermans got acquainted 
with a rapidity that was marvelous. Yet when people 
said to Marian that it was lovely for her to have such a 
family of playfellows all at once, something within her 
rose up and cried out in protest. 

It gave her an undeniable shock the first time she 
heard one of them call Uncle Tom “father.” It seemed 
to bring that happy-go-lucky five, who had been strangers 
till so lately, closer to him than Marian herself. Marian 
had never outgrown her habit of sitting on Uncle Tom’s 
knee, though for a year or two he had made a great pre- 
tense of groaning over her weight. The first time she 
saw Alice perched on one knee, and Adelaide on the other, 
while Annie hung on the back of his chair and bestowed 
furtive kisses on his bald crown, Marian’s feeling of 
resentment almost got beyond her control. Nor did it 
make things better when Uncle Tom called cheerily, 
“ Come along. Pussy ! Always room for one more !” 

“ No, thank you,” said Marian, stiffly. And she slipped 
out of the other door and escaped to the garret, where, 
for a wonder, nobody followed her, so she had her cry out 
in peace. Share Uncle Tom’s knee with those others! 
Well, hardly I 

At the end of three months the Zimmerman children 
were perfectly at home, but a change had come over 
Marian. She had never been a talkative girl. Now she 
was a silent one. She had never been demonstrative. 
Now she almost shrank from Uncle Tom’s kisses. The 
lively atmosphere of the household, which kept even 
Keziah on the broad grin, did not succeed in raising her 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z GOMPAHY: 


17 


spirits. Instead, she seemed given over to chronic melan- 
choly of a mild but unmistakable type. 

“ I believe we’d better have a doctor take a look at the 
girl,” Uncle Tom said to his wife. “ She’s out of sorts 
in some way. A bit bilious, maybe.” 

Aunt Elizabeth coughed. She was a discreet woman, 
and she never thought it necessary to tell all she knew. 
Curiously enough, she understood, better than anybody 
else, what ailed Marian. 

“ I don’t believe it’s necessary to call in a doctor, Tom 
dear,” she replied. “ I’ll give her a tonic I’ve used for 
the other children, and I think she’ll soon be herself 
again.” It was a very mild tonic, with a good deal of 
petting mixed in with each dose. Alice, too, was trying 
hard to be kind and considerate, for her mother had 
thought best to take her into her confidence. 

“ It’s hard for Marian, when she has been used to hav- 
ing her uncle all to herself, to be obliged to share him 
with so many.” 

Alice opened her eyes a little. “ But we have to share 
you with her, just the same.” 

Mrs. Maxwell laughed. You’re used to sharing 
things,” she replied, “ and that makes a difference. Just 
remember to be as kind and sisterly as you can, till Marian 
gets used to the change.” 

But with all the good intentions in the world, people 
make mistakes sometimes. One evening, when Marian 
was out of the room, the subject of a picnic was sug- 
gested. “ I think I could get away from the office Sat- 
urday,” Mr. Maxwell remarked, and forthwith the plans 
were laid. A good deal was said about the matter, first 
and last; and, whether Marian heard nothing of it, or, 
whether hearing, she did not understand and failed to 


18 


THE “FJSOJi A TO Z COMPAAIY. 


ask for information, nobody knew. But Alice, going 
to her room a short time after breakfast, on Saturday was 
surprised to find Marian with her hair in the wash-bowl. 

Why, Marian Alice cried, “ what made you wash 
your hair this morning? Do you think it will get dry in 
time ?” 

“In time for what?’’ 

“ For the picnic.” 

Marian raised her head quickly, her dripping locks fall- 
ing on either side of her flushed face. “ What picnic? I 
haven’t heard about any picnic.” 

Alice felt very uncomfortable. “ Why, didn’t you know 
we were all going on a picnic this morning?” 

Marian stood very still without replying, and Alice 
hurried on. “ Father said he could get away from the 
office for the day. I supposed, of .course, you had heard 
us talking about it.” 

Still Marian did not speak. She went on washing her 
hair, thankful that Alice .could not see how her hands 
were shaking. A picnic ! They had planned everything 
without a word to her ! Nobody knew whether she could 
go, and nobody cared ! As the minutes slipped away and 
there was no sound in the room but the splash of water, 
Alice grew anxious. 

“ Let me help you dry your hair, Marian. I’ll get a fan. 
Annie will help, too, and we’ll get it dry in no time.” 

“ I’m in no hurry, thank you !” The stifled voice hardly 
sounded like Marian’s. 

“ But, Marian, father said we’d start about half-past 
nine.” 

“ That will give you a nice, long day, won’t it? I hope 
you’ll have a pleasant time !” Marian’s elaborate polite- 
ness did not deceive the other girl. Alice was distressed. 


THE FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


19 


“ Why, Marian ! You talk as if you weren’t going !” 

“Going?” Marian seemed surprised at the suggestion. 
“ Oh, no ! I’m not going ! Nothing was said to me about 
it!” 

“ We thought you knew, Marian,” Alice pleaded, and 
then she wondered if she were not making a bad matter 
worse. It seemed to her that the occasion demanded a 
wiser head than her own, and she went to tell her mother. 
But Mrs. Maxwell’s cheery tact was not sufficient to 
soothe Marian’s wounded feelings, nor make her change 
her resolution. 

Uncle Tom, whistling like a boy, was looking up fishing- 
rods, for Arthur and Alfred, in addition to his own, when 
his wife called him aside. “ Tom, I’m afraid we’ve hurt 
Marian’s feelings. It seems that she didn’t know any- 
thing about this picnic plan.” 

“ Well, you’d better tell her,” said Uncle Tom, his mind 
still on his fishing-rods.” 

“ Dear, we have told her. But before she heard, she 
had begun to wash her hair.” 

“Her hair;” Uncle Tom straightened himself, and then 
gave a rather comical groan. “ No getting off at half- 
past nine, then !” he said, resignedly. “ Tell her to get 
out into the sunshine and dry it as quick as she can.” 

“ She fancies she doesn’t want to go, Tom. I’m afraid 
her feelings are hurt. If you could coax her a little. 
Girls at that age are sensitive things,” added Mrs. Max- 
well, her hand on her husband’s arm, “ and with this 
invasion of the Zimmermans, it’s not strange that the 
child should have a left-out feeling sometimes.” 

“ Oh, nonsense !” exclaimed Uncle Tom, but he ran 
upstairs, never doubting that a word would be sufficient 
to dispel Marian’s unreasonable mood. But Marian’s 


20 


THE “FjROM a To z compah^: 


hair was still in the water, and her face was hidden, 
which gave her an advantage, and in course of time even 
Uncle Tom found himself at the end of his patience. 

‘‘ Very well, Marian His tone was crisp. “ We shall 
be glad to wait for you if you wish to accompany us, pro- 
vided you hurry — that is, so as not to detain us unreason- 
ably. Otherwise we will start at once.^’ 

“ I don’t want to go !” said Marian, lifelessly. 

‘‘Very well. That settles it!” Uncle Tom marched 
downstairs with considerable emphasis, and promptly 
vetoed Alice’s offer to stay at home to keep Marian com- 
pany. “ A little loneliness will do her good I” said Uncle 
Tom, rather sternly for him. 

In spite of all her protestations, the sound of wheels, 
as the wagonette drove away, was too much for Marian’s 
composure. She flung herself on the floor, her hair all 
dripping as it was, and sobbed heart-breakingly. They 
had gone away and left her ! She repeated the words 
over and over, as if she herself were not entirely responsi- 
ble for her abandoned state. Uncle Tom did not love her 
any more. He had never treated her like this till those 
other young folks came ! Oh, that A to Z Company ! 
She wished she had never heard of it. 

Marian was one of the girls who, when they start out 
to be martyrs, make a thorough job of it. By now she 
had convinced herself that she was the most abused girl 
that could be imagined. Not very long before she had 
had a happy home and a devoted uncle. Now these in- 
truders had spoiled her home, and stolen her uncle’s affec- 
tion. The only satisfaction left to her now was letting 
them see what they had done. When Keziah summoned 
her to luncheon, she called over the banisters, “ I don’t 
want anything to eat !” 


I^HE “F/203i A TO Z COMPAl^Yr 




Keziah came upstairs and looked Marian over. It was 
not an agreeable sight. Marian’s protracted fit of crying 
had resulted in swollen nose and eyelids and a mottled 
complexion. Her hair, still damp and uncombed, fell in 
straggling locks about her face. 

‘‘ You look like a young turkey that’s been out in the 
rain,” said Keziah, who was in the habit of speaking her 
mind. And you’re going back on your victuals, besides. 
What ails you, anyway?” 

“ I am not hungry, Keziah,” said Marian, with as much 
dignity as was compatible with her appearance. Unfortu- 
nately Keziah had been used to Marian since she was 
about three years old, and so failed to be impressed. She 
only sniffed incredulously. 

“ I know what ails you well enough,” said Keziah. 
“ It’s worse than not being hungry, too. And if I was 
you, I’d set myself to get over it, the first thing I did.” 
She marched away, leaving Marian to add one more 
grievance to her collection. Keziah, too ! Soon there 
would be no one left to care for her. 

In the garret of the Maxwell house, one room had been 
finished off for use in emergencies, and Marian, in her 
greed for self-immolation, suddenly thought of this room. 
She would take it for hers, and leave the A to Z Com- 
pany in possession downstairs. She would spend a great 
deal of her time there, she resolved. The upper story 
was naturally a little warm and uncomfortable in the 
summer, and perhaps they would leave her alone. In 
fancy, she saw herself sitting in the bamboo rocking- 
chair, on the uncarpeted floor, while the cheery family 
life went on without her. 

Strange to say, she found a great deal of satisfaction in 
the picture. 


22 


THE ^^FUOM A TO Z COMPANY: 


All the afternoon she worked, carrying out her plan. 
There was no closet in the garret room, and she drove 
a row of nails into the wall and hung up her clothes. A 
cot, folded against the wall, was set up and converted into 
a bed. An old bureau, in which Aunt Cornelia sometimes 
kept garden seeds, was made the receptacle of her various 
treasures. She even toiled up the stairs with her pictures, 
and hung them against the plastered wall. Alice could 
have the other room, and do exactly as she pleased with it. 

Her toilet was intended to emphasize her new attitude 
toward the world. Marian combed her hair straight over 
her head in the most unbecoming fashion imaginable, and 
put on a faded dress, left over from a previous season. 
By this time she was ravenously hungry, something she 
much regretted. She had planned to go without dinner 
as well as luncheon, that her half-starved appearance 
might wring the hearts of those who had been so cruel 
to her. In her present state, however, this plan was not 
feasible. Instead, she was in danger of overeating. 

Certain savory odors proclaimed the nearness of the 
meal. Marian waited, with a sick longing,* which pres- 
ently took the form of resentment against the absent 
members of the family. They were going to be late. 
Yes, they actually were going to keep her waiting for 
dinner, when she had had no luncheon. Marian did not 
ask herself whose fault this was. She heard Keziah 
grumbling downstairs. Nothing taxed Keziah’s patience 
like getting a good dinner, and having it spoil waiting for 
the diners. Presently she summoned Marian. 

“ Might as well eat while things are fit to eat,” said 
Keziah. “ Looks like those picnickers had forgotten all 
about mealtime.” 

And so Marian’s lonely day ended in a lonely dinner. 











ALL THE AFTERNOON SHE WORKED 




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CHAPTER III. 

W HEN one has planned out a program for the sake 
of impressing other people, it is always trying 
not to get a chance to carry out one’s intentions. 
Marian had never known time to drag, as it dragged that 
evening. Her pride forbade her to amuse herself at the 
piano, or with a book. She sat under the chandelier, her 
hands folded in her lap, and an expression of plaintive 
resignation upon her face, and yet she felt considerably 
better than before dinner. The chance to impress Keziah 
had not seemed to Marian a sufficient reason for going 
hungry, and she had made out a hearty meal. But by this 
time Keziah was thinking very little about Marian and 
her moods. The old servant’s irritation because of the 
spoiling of the meal was gradually giving place to anxiety 
over the inexplicable delay of the family. The vegetables 
had simmered away into an indistinguishable mass, the 
baked potatoes were encased in an almost impenetrable 
armor, the roast beef was cold, and Keziah had ceased 
to care. Again and again she went across the yard to 
the gate, and looked down the street, trying to make out 
in the gloom the shape of the wagonette. 

“ Did they say anything to you about being late, may- 
be?” she asked Marian at last, a worried wrinkle showing 
itself between her brows. 

‘‘ They didn’t tell me anything about this picnic,” Mar- 
ian returned loftily, but Keziah did not notice her man- 
ner. She muttered something to herself and went back to 
the kitchen. Marian could hear her moving about like 
some restless creature of the night. A little apprehension 
began to mingle with Marian’s mood. She almost began 

25 


26 


THE A TO z compah^y: 


to feel as if she should be glad to see them. 

The hands of the clock pointed to half-past nine, when 
Keziah caught the sound she had been listening for, the 
rattle of wheels, and the beat of horses’ hoofs. “There 
they are !” Keziah told herself, and her anger straightway 
returned, because of the anxiety she had needlessly suf- 
fered. Then, as she hurried to the door, she was not 
quite sure that it was the wagonette, after all. “ Mr. 
Maxwell ain’t used to driving so fast,” thought Keziah. 
“ But maybe they’ve been delayed somewhere, and he’s in 
a hurry to get home.” 

She heaved a sigh of relief, for the wagonette had 
turned in at the wide gate. The horses came up the drive- 
way at a sharp trot. “ Pretty time to get back,” thought 
Keziah. Then a little shriek escaped her, for a stranger 
sat on the front seat. On one of the side seats two women 
clung to each other; the other seat was empty. 

“ The children !” said Keziah, in a terrified whisper. 
“ The children !” The second was a scream. 

Marian heard it, and came running. “ What is it, 
Keziah?” she said breathlessly. “Oh, Keziah, what has 
happened ?” 

No one paid any attention to her. The stranger helped 
out the women. “ Can you walk?” he asked one of them. 

“ Yes,” she answered, but she swayed, and the man 
caught her arm. Keziah ran to help. Between them they 
got her into the house. It was almost impossible for 
Marian to realize that the pallid face on which her eyes 
rested was that of Aunt Elizabeth. Since morning it had 
changed beyond belief. It looked shrunken and old. Yet 
Mrs. Maxwell was more composed than Aunt Cornelia, 
who tottered to a chair and burst into passionate weeping. 

Keziah pulled the stranger into the next room and shut 


THE ^*FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


27 


the door. The children !” she said again, her lips twitch- 
ing. “ What’s become of them all ?” 

The man spoke low. “ They went out boating, the five 
of ’em. The oldest boy was used to the water, his mother 
says, and they never thought of danger. When they 
didn’t come back they began to get anxious, and to hunt 
around. They found the boat below the dam, and a little 
girl’s hat on the rocks, but that’s all. There’s fifty men 
there now hunting for the bodies. Mr. Maxwell wouldn’t 
leave.” 

It was some time before Marian knew. She had been 
trying to help, her heart beating so hard that it was like 
a hand knocking against her side, and her lips trembling 
with the weight of a question she dared not ask. She 
took off Aunt Elizabeth’s hat, and rubbed her cold* hands, 
and helped Keziah bring in some hot tea. “ You’ll be 
better if you drink this, my lamb,” Keziah said, her harsh 
voice -breaking with tenderness and sympathy. And Mrs. 
Maxwell did drink the tea, which was more than Aunt 
Cornelia was able to do. 

At last Marian had a chance to ask the question trem- 
bling on her lips. “ What has happened, Keziah ? Where 
are all the rest?” 

“ The children are at the bottom of the river.” Keziah 
broke suddenly into weeping, her face twisting, and her 
shoulders heaving. Your pa’s helping the men that are 
looking for them. Oh, how can she bear up the way she 
does, poor soul ! Five in a day.” 

But in spite of misleading appearances, the A to Z Com- 
pany was not at the bottom of the river. Their situation 
at the moment was trying, but not dangerous. 

The first part of the afternoon, after the picnic lunch- 
eon, had been spent in fishing, but as the fish had not been 


28 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY,' 


in a responsive mood, Mr. Maxwell had tired of the 
sport. “ I’m going to lie on the pine needles, and have 
your mother read to me,” he announced, as he put away 
his tackle. “ You youngsters can amuse yourselves any 
way you like.” 

“Can we go out in the boat, father?” Arthur inquired. 

“ Why, I’ve no objection if your mother thinks you’re 
to be trusted, and you don’t go too near the dam.” 

Mrs. Maxwell being appealed to smiled her assent. 
“ Oh, yes,” she said^ “ Arthur understands the manage- 
ment of a boat very well, and so does Alice. The rest of 
you,” she continued, addressing the younger members of 
her flock, “ must remember not to stand up in the boat, 
nor change places, and you must do exactly as Arthur 
and Alice tell you.” 

The two stood smiling on the shore while the boat was 
loaded, Alice taking one oar, and Arthur the other. As 
the boat shot down stream, they waited and watched it 
for some moments. Then they went back to the shade 
of the pine trees, where a soft carpet of needles had been 
spread in readiness for them, and sat down for a pleasant 
hour together. 

Hardly were they out of sight before a bright idea 
occurred to the practical Arthur. “ I say, Alice, we’re 
going the wrong way.” 

“Why?” asked Alice, missing a stroke. 

“ We’re going with the current now, and it’s easy. It 
would be better to row up river, and have our easy time 
coming back.” 

“ I think so, too,” Alice agreed. “ We might go further 
than we meant to, and then get awfully tired trying to 
row back with the current against us.” 

The boat’s head was promptly turned, and as they 


ARTHUR HELD THE BOAT WHILE THE OTHERS SPRANG ASHORE 


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TEE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


31 


rowed back over the course they looked vainly for their 
parents or Aunt Cornelia. “ Tm going to holler,” little 
Adelaide announced with a very determined air. 

“ Oh, don’t !” warned the thoughtful Alice. “ It might 
sound like screaming, and frighten mother.” And so the 
little craft went up the river, and turning a bend was 
lost to sight from the point where the picnic luncheon 
had been eaten. 

Half a mile further up, the river widened into almost 
a lake, broad and placid, and the youthful Zimmermans 
were delighted by the discovery of an island lying midway 
between the two banks. It was a dream of an island, 
green, thickly wooded, and with a tiny bay at the lower 
end which seemed to invite a landing. In the excitement 
which ensued, the two commanders of the expedition had 
a little difficulty in keeping the younger ones quiet. 

“ But it’s such a darling island,” pleaded Annie. “ I 
never saw such a dear little one before.” 

“ Couldn’t we go ashore and explore it?” asked Alfred, 
his eyes shining. 

“ Why, yes, I guess so,” replied Arthur, as indulgently 
as if he were not as eager as any of the others. With 
steady strokes they rowed into the little harbor. Arthur 
was first out, and he held the boat while the others sprang 
ashore, and rushed away, examining every portion of 
their new domain. Arthur lingered only long enough to 
tie the boat to the projecting branch of a convenient tree, 
and then he followed the others. 

For a small island, the exploration took some time. 
The undergrowth was rather thick, which made progress 
slow. They found some huckleberry bushes growing near 
the shore on one side, but they were in too much of a 
hurry to stop to pick the little blue spheres. 


32 


THti A TO Z COMPAUf^:^ 


The island brought back to them many adventurous 
tales they had read, and they decided just where they 
would have built their log house, if they had been cast 
away upon the island from a wrecked vessel. The ques- 
tion of fuel troubled Alfred. He pointed out that by the 
time the house was built, there would only be enough trees 
left for shade. Arthur suggested that a good deal of 
driftwood was sure to float down the river, and they all 
felt relieved at this way out of the difficulty. 

It was all so realistic and fascinating that when Alice 
bethought herself of her mother, a pang of conscience 
accompanied the recollection. “ Oh, dear !” she said, 
“ mother will imagine we’re lost. It was so interesting 
that I didn’t think how long we were staying.” 

“ Oh, it hasn’t been long,” Arthur said, but he glanced 
at the sky, and at the sight of the sun he whistled softly, 
which was his way of acknowledging that he had been 
mistaken. ‘‘ Come on,” he said briefly. “ All aboard.” 

Little Adelaide ran on before the others. As she 
reached the water’s edge, she halted abruptly, and uttered 
a wail. “What’s the matter?” Alice called, hurrying in 
pursuit. 

“ My hat’s gone !” 

“ Why, I thought you left it in the boat.” 

“ I did, but the boat’s gone, too.” 

The others came down with a rush. The boat was 
gone, in very truth. Not a sign of it was to be seen. In 
his haste, Arthur had evidently neglected to tie it securely, 
and the breeze and the current had done the rest. For a 
moment the five stood staring blankly at one another, un- 
able to speak. 

“ Oh, dear ! I want my hat !” cried Adelaide, to whom 
this loss seemed the most serious phase of the situation. 


fEii ^^PROM A TO Z COMPANy:^ 


3^ 


“ It had daisies on it, and I loved it. Oh, dear !” 

“ We might play that pirates came and scuttled our 
ship,’^ suggested Alfred hopefully, but the older ones were 
in no mood for make-believe. 

'‘What are we going to do?” Alice said to Arthur in 
an undertone. 

Arthur’s face was blank. “ I don’t know what there is 
to do, except wait,” he replied solemnly. 

Alfred had caught his brother’s words. “ Can’t we get 
off. Art?” he cried jubilantly. “Then we really are cast- 
aways, like the Swiss Family Robinson. Hurrah !” 

Annie looked uncertain whether or not to take her 
brother’s viewpoint. “ I wish father and mother had been 
cast away, too,” she sighed. “ Then we wouldn’t have 
any lonesome feelings.” 

“ And I wish I had my hat, with the daisies,” mourned 
Adelaide. 

Alice pulled Arthur’s sleeve. “ How will they find out 
that we’re here?” she asked him in a low tone. 

“Why, I suppose they’ll see the boat drifting down, 
and then they’ll get another boat somewhere and row up 
after us.” Arthur felt very uncomfortable, realizing that 
his carelessness was responsible for this unpleasant pre- 
dicament; and Alice, guessing his self-reproach from the 
expression of his face, forbore to put into words any of 
the anxious thoughts coming into her mind. She was 
saying to herself that perhaps her parents would not dis- 
cover the drifting boat, till it was past the Point, in 
which case they might not realize that the children had 
abandoned their original intention of rowing down river, 
and gone up the stream instead. It did not occur even 
to Alice, however, that there was a likelihood of her 
mother’s thinking them drowned. The worst that sug- 


34 


THE “F/eOM A TO Z COMPANY:^ 


gested itself to her was the possibility that they might 
spend the night on’ the island. 

They sat down, a rather sober quintet, and looked down 
the stream, waiting for a boat to appear around the bend. 
Presently Adelaide uttered a faint whisper. “ I want my 
supper,” she said. 

“ In Swiss Family Robinson,” exclaimed Alfred, ‘‘ when 
the people were cast away, plenty of provisions were cast 
away, too.” He looked at his older brother, as if to inti- 
mate that there was an oversight on somebody’s part. 

“ There are the huckleberry bushes,” Alice said quickly. 

This suggestion had the result of restoring everybody’s 
good spirits. There were not a great many huckleberries, 
to be sure. Alice and Arthur did not eat any, and in 
spite of their self-denial, the berries which were left were 
not enough to satisfy anybody’s hunger, but there was 
something very romantic in the idea of picking one’s sup- 
per off the bushes. Moreover, the young folks had all 
eaten too heartily at noon to be very ravenous at night- 
fall. Adelaide stopped complaining about her lost hat, 
and busied her mind with other practical questions. 

Where are we going to bed to-night?” 

‘‘ I guess we won’t go to bed, exactly. When you get 
sleepy, you can lie down and put your head in my lap.” 

This suggestion meeting Adelaide’s approval, she 
promptly pillowed her head in her sister’s lap, and went 
to sleep. Annie crept over to Arthur, and leaning against 
his shoulder, followed Adelaide’s example. Alfred was 
next to succumb. But the senior members of the “ A to Z 
Company ” felt no tendency to sleepiness. As the dark- 
ness came on, and the stars peeped out, they sat with 
every sense alert, wishing for the morning. 


CHAPTER IV. 

I T WAS a long night, and an uncomfortable one. What- 
ever the charm of solitary islands in stories of romantic 
adventure, in real life they have their drawbacks. One 
of the most apparent of these was the mosquitoes, which 
after sundown attacked the sleepers with a bloodthirsty 
persistence that kept the wakeful members of the party 
busy. The night was not still, as Alice had expected. 
Instead, it was full of plaintive sounds. Insects appar- 
ently dying of homesickness chirped away indefatigably, 
and an orchestra of melancholy frogs piped a sad accom- 
paniment. There were times when Alice could not keep 
from crying, and she was sure that the mournful sounds 
that beat upon her ears were altogether responsible. 

As the night wore on, both Alice and Arthur slept by 
fits and starts. They had placed Annie and Adelaide side 
by side, with Arthur’s coat rolled up for a pillow, and they 
took turns keeping the mosquitoes away. It was well for 
their peace of mind that they had no dream of the grue- 
some search going on below the dam, nor of the heart- 
broken watchers at home. They thought only that their 
parents had been unable to find them in the dark, and 
that they would make their appearance the first thing in 
the morning. 

“ If Marian had come to the picnic, I suppose she’d 
have been along with us,” Alice remarked to her brother, 
sometime during the night. ‘ I guess she’s glad she 
stayed away.” It would have surprised Alice very much 
if she could have had a glimpse of Marian at that moment, 
lying face downward on the bed, fully dressed, and sob- 
bing as if her heart would break. “ Oh, I wish I hadn’t 

35 


36 


THE A TO Z COMPANY: 


taken my things upstairs ! I wish I hadn’t !” She had 
put out the light, because she could not endure the sight 
of the bare walls which constantly reminded her of her 
selfish jealousy. But Alice knowing nothing of this, natu- 
rally pictured Marian as congratulating herself on a lucky 
escape. 

Arthur slapped a particularly ferocious mosquito before 
he replied, “ I don’t know what to think of that girl. But 
I’m glad she’s not here. She’s one of the sort that makes 
the worst of everything.” 

“ Even of us,” suggested Alice, with a little laugh, and 
immediately after was sorry, the more so that Arthur said 
with decision, “ Of us in particular.” 

“ I’m afraid,” Alice acknowledged reluctantly, “ that 
she doesn’t like us very well.” 

“ Anybody can see that. The question is, Why? Other 
folks do,” added Arthur, with a frankness which was the 
farthest thing in the world from conceit. 

“ Well, you see, she’s used to being the only one, and I 
think it hurts her to see father acting fond of us. She 
always had him to herself before.” 

Arthur gave a little grunt of disgust. “ I despise that 
sort of thing,” he said. “ I’ve always tried to be nice to 
Marian. Now I’m going to quit.” 

‘‘Are you?” asked his sister soberly. She moved a 
little nearer him. 

“ Everybody else and everything else is jolly,” Arthur 
continued. “ Father — well, there aren’t any words good 
enough to tell what father is, and Aunt Cornelia is a 
regular — a regular — ” 

“ A regular dear !” suggested Alice. 

“ A regular dear,” Arthur repeated, accepting the sug- 
gestion. “ And even old Keziah is a brick. But Marian 


THE “F/eOM A TO Z COMPAQ.' 


37 


goes around like a wet blanket. Fve tried to be nice to 
her, and Fm going to stop square off,’’ 

“ Seems to me — ” Alice stooped over Adelaide, avoid- 
ing her brother’s eye — “ seems to me that isn’t what Fd 
have expected of one of the ‘ A to Z Company.’ ” 

“ Why not?” Arthur asked sharply. 

“ If Marian doesn’t like us and we don’t like Marian, 
it’s going to make things disagreeable. Father will feel 
bad, of course, because he’s her uncle and loves her dearly. 
And Aunt Cornelia will feel bad for the same reason. 
And mother won’t be quite happy because they’re not. 
Everything will be wrong.” 

Arthur squirmed, without replying. 

“ If folks just like us naturally,” Alice continued, “ it 
isn’t anything much to our credit. But if we have to 
conquer their dislike to start with, it is something to be 
proud of. You’re fond of hard games and hard problems 
in algebra. I shouldn’t think you’d want other things to 
be so dreadfully easy.” 

Arthur looked toward his sister doubtfully, but the 
darkness veiled her face. “ It’s a queer way to put it,” he 
said uncertainly. ‘‘ But maybe there’s something in it.” 

“ Of course there is. There’s lots in it. Promise me, 
Arthur, that you won’t stop trying yet awhile.” 

“ Oh, well,” said the boy, hesitating a moment, ‘‘ not 
yet awhile.” 

“ And that you’ll try a little harder.” 

Oh, if that’ll make you feel better, I suppose I’ll try 
harder.” 

“ That’s a dear boy,” said Alice, and heaved a sigh of 
relief. Hard and disagreeable as the night was proving, 
she did not really feel that it was thrown away. 

The morning dawned on five disconsolate young folks. 


38 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


Arthur and Alice, after a night in which they had watched 
more than they had slept, were pale and heavy-eyed. The 
others were stiff and unrefreshed. In spite of all the 
vigilance of the older ones, all five were speckled with 
mosquito bites. And in addition there was the question of 
breakfast to be considered. It was useless to appeal to 
the huckleberry bushes. They had been stripped the 
night before. 

“ I want my daisy hat,” whimpered poor little Adelaide, 
who was as yet too young to have learned to conceal her 
feelings. “ I want my daisy hat — and my breakfast.” 

Arthur pulled Alice to one side. 

“ See here, Allie,” he said soberly, “ it looks to me as 
though there is something wrong. Maybe the folks don’t 
think of our being in this part of the river. I thought 
we’d see ’em as soon as the sun was up, and by the looks, 
it must be eight o’clock, anyway. What do you think of 
my trying to swim ashore ?” 

Alice caught his arm and paled. “ Oh, Arthur, it is 
too far. It’s dreadfully far.” 

It’s quite a swim,” said the boy, measuring the dis- 
tance with his eye. “ I never tried such a long one, but 
plenty of fellows no stronger than I am have done it. 
And it is this way, you see — ” 

He waited so long to tell her how it was, that Alice 
found it necessary to ask him, “ It’s what way?” 

“ The longer I waited, Alice, the less likely I’d be to 
make it. I didn’t have any supper last night, or any 
breakfast this morning. If I should wait till to-night with 
nothing to eat, I wouldn’t have the strength to swim half 
way.” 

“ But they’ll find us before to-night. They must find 
us !” Alice exclaimed passionately. 


THE “F7^0M A TO Z COMPANY: 


39 


“ There’s something queer about it, or they’d have been 
here before this. And just listen to Addie !” Arthur 
paused a moment, while the fretful voice of the youngest 
Zimmerman rose from a little distance behind them. 

“ I want my breakfast and my daisy hat — and my 
mamma !” 

“ She’s hungry,” Arthur said shortly. We can’t let 
her be hungry, you know. “ I’ve got to get ashore some 
way.” 

Alice hesitated. She realized that the responsibility of 
decision was not a trifling one. It was dreadful to think 
that little Adelaide was hungry and that she might actually 
suffer before help arrived. Yet Alice felt that the risk 
was much less than the one Arthur suggested taking. 
She caught her brother’s arm again, as if to hold him 
fast. “ Don’t go, Arthur,” she pleaded. Let’s stick to- 
gether, whatever happens.” 

The boy was not convinced. If we wait too long, 
Alice, there won’t be any use in trying.” 

“ But, Arthur, you might drown before our eyes.” 
The dreadful thought, together with her anxiety and 
weariness, was too much for Alice’s self-control. She 
burst into tears, and before she could get the better of 
her feelings, the other members of the quintet came rush- 
ing to the rescue. 

“Alice is crying!” Annie exclaimed in awe-struck 
tones. “ Oh, dear !” Her own chin quivered sympa- 
thetically. “What is the matter, Alice?” 

“ I guess that she wants her breakfast,” suggested 
Adelaide, wisely. “ I ’most cried myself, ’cause I was so 
hungry.” 

“ Don’t you think they’re coming after us at all, Alice?” 
Alfred demanded. His ideas as to castaways were under- 


40 


THB “Fieol/ A TO z company:^ 


going a rapid revision. He had a strong conviction that 
he would be willing to exchange all the uninhabited islands 
in existence for his own bed and a good breakfast. 

‘‘ Of course they’ll come after us,” Alice replied hastily, 
wiping her eyes. She was rather mortified to think she 
should have been the one to break down, but even that 
had a bright side. For now that Arthur saw how deeply 
she felt on the subject, she was sure he would not ignore 
her wishes and make the effort to swim ashore. 

No one was in the mood for exercise that morning. 
They sat in the shade, and made occasional remarks, but 
very little was said of the subject uppermost in the minds 
of all. Adelaide was the sole exception. She offered a 
great many conjectures as to what Keziah had for break- 
fast. Sometimes she leaned toward waffles, and again 
she cast her vote in favor of eggs and bacon. The others 
looked at one another hungrily, as she prattled on, but 
said nothing. 

After a time, even Adelaide’s busy tongue was silent. 
For a full half-hour not a word was spoken. The four 
older ones sat in a dejected half-circle looking down the 
river, waiting for a boat to round the bend. Adelaide 
trotted about, picking flowers and tossing stones into the 
water. Her mood was surprisingly placid, considering 
that she really was hungry. But when she suddenly 
threw down the little bunch of flowers she had gathered, 
and stamped her foot with every appearance of vexation, 
no one was surprised. 

What is it, dear?” asked Alice, soothingly, without 
turning her head. 

“ I thought it was my mamma in that boat, and it is 
nobody but boys.” 

“ Boat !” screamed Alice, springing to her feet. 


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THE “ FROM A TO Z COMPANY^ 43 

Boat !” shouted the others, following her example. The 
sight which had aroused Adelaide’s ire produced a very 
different effect on the other members of the family. 

The two boys in the dug-out, paddling leisurely across 
the stream some distance above the island, were suddenly 
arrested in their course by a succession of unearthly 
shrieks, sufficient to check the advance of an ocean liner. 
As they looked around, the sight which met their eyes 
was no less startling than the sounds which had assailed 
their ears. Five figures on the shore of the little island 
were executing a frenzied war dance, brandishing jackets, 
waving handkerchiefs, and beckoning wildly, all the time 
without any cessation of the frantic screams which first 
had attracted the voyagers’ attention. 

The dug-out changed its course abruptly, and came 
straight to the island, the occupants paddling as if for 
dear life, and getting a surprising amount of speed out of 
the ungainly craft. 

“ I tell you it’s them !” the older of the two boys flung 
over his shoulder to the smaller lad. 

“ Say, if it should be !” was the other’s inexplicable re- 
ply, and both paddled with extra energy. They were still 
a couple of rods away, when the older boy, apparently 
unable to restrain his curiosity further, stopped paddling 
long enough to shout, “ Say, are you the fellers that was 
drowned ?” 

“What’s that?” Arthur shouted back, unable to believe 
his ears. 

“Are you the fellers that was drowned?” 

“ I should think you could see for yourself that we are 
not,” Arthur replied, indignant at so foolish a question. 

Alice pulled his sleeve, as a reminder that under the 
circumstances diplomacy was in order. 


44 ^HE A TO Z COMPAV^:"^ 

The dug-out was near enough now to make an animated 
conversation possible. I mean aren’t you the ones every- 
body thought was drowned?” 

No-o,” Arthur said, uncertainly. He had begun with 
a prompt denial, and before he could get the syllable out, 
a dreadful doubt had seized him. 

Ain’t your father’s name Maxwell ?” 

Yes. Thomas Maxwell.” 

“ Well, you’re the ones, then. They found your boat 
below the dam, and they’ve been hunting for you, down 
as far as Felton’s Mill. Ever since daylight men have 
been driving by our farm to help.” 


CHAPTER V. 

T he dug-out was not equal to taking the entire A to Z 
Company ashore at the same time. Arthur, Annie 
and Adelaide went in the first load, and Alice and 
Alfred waited for the second trip. Alice had insisted on 
Arthur’s getting ashore as soon as possible. Her relief 
over their rescue had faded into insignificance as she 
realized what her mother must have suffered, through the 
long night. 

“ Oh, get to a telephone as soon as you can, Arthur,” 
she implored. “ Tell them we’re all right. Oh, poor, 
poor mother !” 

“ We haven’t got a telephone in our house,” said the 
older of the two rescuers, “ but our next neighbor has. 
You can get on our pony,” he added to Arthur, “ and ride 
down there in a jiffy.” 

Arthur nodded without replying. His thoughts, like 
his sister’s, were busy picturing what the night must have 
meant to his mother. His own discomfort faded from his 
mind, as no longer worthy of remembrance. 

The dug-out landed its passengers, and at once started 
back for the two left behind. You just go on up to the 
house,” the older of the two boys shouted to Arthur. 
‘‘ Tell ma that you’re the ones that were drowned, and 
there won’t be nothin’ on the place too good for you.” 

Encouraged by this cheering assurance^ the trio made 
its way up to a small, unpretentious farmhouse, and the 
dog lying on the back steps rose and growled a warning. 
Indoors a woman’s voice spoke his name. 

“What ails you. Scamp? ’Tain’t tramps, is it?” She 
stepped to the door, and her eyes fell on Arthur, who led 

45 


46 THE A TO Z COMPAI^Y:' 

a sister by each hand. Her look of amazement would 
have been laughable, had Arthur been in the mood to 
appreciate humor. 

“ If you please,’^ he began politely, we're the ones they 
thought were drowned, and I want to know — " 

The woman interrupted him by a piercing shriek. She 
pounced upon Adelaide and hugged and kissed her as if 
she had been her own. 

“ You precious lamb !” she cried. “ I’ll warrant your 
ma has just about cried her eyes out this night. Why, 
I’ve been going around about my work so heavy-hearted 
that it seemed as if I’d never laugh again. Where’s the 
other two?” she asked, turning to Arthur, and still hug- 
ging Adelaide fast. 

‘‘ They’re over on the island. The boys have gone after 
them.” 

“ That Jake and Bob !” cried the mother. “ And I was 
scolding away to myself when I found they’d slipped off 
in the boat, ’stead of finishing up their chores.” She used 
the corner of her gingham apron to wipe away the tears 
that rushed to her eyes. Arthur was touched and aston- 
ished by the exhibition of sympathy on the part of a total 
stranger. He was not old enough to have learned how 
swiftly disaster tightens the bonds which bind human 
hearts together. 

‘‘ I want to let my mother know we’re all right as soon 
as I can,” explained Arthur. “ The boys said I could take 
their pony, and ride to some place where there’s a tele- 
phone.” 

Of course. I’ll saddle him for you.” She dropped 
Adelaide and hurried to the barn. Arthur followed, 
remonstrating. 

“ If you’ll just show me where the things are. I’ll saddle 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPAFIY: 


47 


him myself. And if you please — I’m afraid I’m asking a 
good many favors.” 

“ My goodness, boy,” the woman cried, her eyes filling 
again, “ you don’t seem to understand that there isn’t a 
mother on the river that’s slept much this night, along 
of thinking of you five. Favors ! I’m only too glad of the 
chance.” 

“ Then if you’d give the girls a little something to eat. 
You see we haven’t had anything since yesterday noon.” 
He did not have a chance to get any farther. The farm- 
er’s wife gathered Adelaide into her arms, caught Annie 
by the hand and started on a run to the house. When 
Arthur galloped past the door, the breakfast was begin- 
ning, and it continued for some time, the farmer’s wife 
opening various jars of preserves in honor of the occa- 
sion, and making gems and an omelet after she had seen 
the castaways fairly started on bread and butter. 

When the phone rang, Marian was in the library. She 
took a step toward it and checked herself. A horror of 
what she might hear turned her faint. She felt an almost 
irresistible impulse to put her hands over her ears and 
run away. 

It had been a dreadful night for Marian. Her uncle 
had come home about midnight, so white and haggard 
that his wife had roused herself and made heroic efforts 
to comfort him. He had left the house again at daybreak, 
though she had pleaded with him not to go. Aunt Cor- 
nelia had collapsed entirely, and the doctor had promised 
to look in again about noon. • 

Again Marian was an only child, and if, before, her 
loneliness had been hard to bear, now it was heart-break- 
ing. She crept from room to room, unable to fix her 
attention upon any task. The door-bell rang frequently. 


48 


THE A TO Z COMPANY: 


as neighbors came with offers of help and expressions of 
sympathy. From the library upstairs, Marian could hear 
Keziah explaining that Mr. Maxwell was at the river and 
that neither Mrs. Maxwell nor Miss Cornelia was able to 
see anybody. 

Now the telephone bell was ringing, and she conquered 
her impulse to call Keziah to receive the message and took 
down the receiver. “ Hello !” she quavered, “ Hello 

Hello.’’ It was a boy’s voice, a little breathless and 
very eager, that came over the wire: “ This you, Marian?” 

” Yes, it’s Marian.” The receiver shook in her hand. 
She tried to ask who was speaking, but her lips refused to 
frame the words. 

“ This is Arthur. Say, you tell mother we’re all right, 
and that — ” 

Marian never heard the rest of the message. The 
receiver dropped from her hand and she ran into the hall 
screaming. They’re all right. They’ll all right.” For 
a time the utmost confusion reigned. Keziah flew up- 
stairs, almost beside herself with excitement. Aunt Cor- 
nelia leaped out of bed and got as far as the door of her 
room, when she dropped over in a faint. And the poor 
mother, hurrying into the hall, caught Marian into her 
arms, exclaiming, “Are you sure? Oh, Marian darling, 
are you sure?” 

“ Yes, I’m perfectly sure, dearest Aunt Elizabeth. It 
was Arthur, and he told me to tell you that they are all 

rigl't” 

Aunt Cornelia occupied their attention for some time. 
“ You ought to know better than to scream out good news 
that way,” scolded Keziah. “ It’s enough to kill all of us.” 

Marian took the reproof with unwonted meekness. 
When she bethought herself to go back to the telephone 


THE A TO Z COMPA^Y^ 


49 


for further particulars, Arthur was no longer on the line. 
There was nothing to do but hang up the receiver and 
await developments. 

Perhaps that next hour with its uncertainty was the 
hardest to bear of any. Marian tortured herself by asking 
again and again, if she could be mistaken. It sounded like 
Arthur’s voice, but perhaps that was only because she had 
been thinking of him and the others so continually for so 
long. Perhaps the voice had not said what she thought, 
but her unstrung nerves had garbled the message. The 
thought set her to pacing the floor. How was it possible 
that they should be all right, when the boat had gone over 
the dam. 

Marian was not alone in her fears. Mrs. Maxwell, sit- 
ting, waiting through the dragging moments, was mentally 
going over almost the same arguments as the young girl. 
Had Marian heard right or was she mistaken? As time 
passed, the mother’s resolute courage almost failed. If 
the children were safe, why did they not come? And how 
was it possible that they should be safe? 

But while they waited and fought agonizing doubts, 
confirmation of the correctness of the message Marian 
had delivered was on its way. When Jake and Bob re- 
turned from their second trip to the island, and landed the 
last of their passengers, they had set at once to harnessing 
the horses to the farm wagon. By the time Arthur was 
back with the pony, their plans were made. 

“ Bob’s going to take the pony and ride down to the 
dam, to tell the men you’re found,” the mother said. 
“ And as soon as everybody’s had enough breakfast, Jake 
will drive you home. Now sit right down to the table 
and take some of this omelet before it is spoiled.” 

Much to the disappointment of their hospitable hostess, 


50 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY.' 


the meal was cut short. Hungry as they were, neither 
Arthur nor Alice felt equal to eating much till they had 
seen their mother. She insisted on making some sand- 
wiches for them to take along, and coaxed Arthur into 
accepting a jar of gooseberry jam which Adelaide had 
especially appreciated. Undisturbed by the thought of 
anyone’s anxiety, Adelaide had done full justice to what 
was set before her, and the sticky condition of her cheeks 
seemed to indicate that she had fallen back on an outward 
application of the delicacies for which she could not find 
accommodation within. 

“Who answered the phone?” Alice asked her brother, 
as they finished their hasty meal. 

“Marian did.” 

“Was she astonished?” 

“ I guess so. She dropped the receiver when I told her 
we were all right, and I could hear her running and 
shouting. She didn’t ask any questions.” 

“ She was too excited to think of that, I suppose,” Alice 
said, glancing through the window where the farm wagon 
stood in readiness, with Jake on the driver’s seat. “ Now 
we must be going. Adelaide dear, please don’t eat any 
more till we get home.” 

“ She was half starved, the blessed little dear,” said 
the farmer’s wife, crowding a piece of sponge cake into 
Adelaide’s hand. “You can eat that as you ride along, 
my pretty.” 

Their homeward progress was not a rapid one. The 
farmer’s horses failed to enter into the spirit of the occa- 
sion, and evinced a most trying moderation. Moreover, a 
head was very likely to protrude from some window as 
they passed a house, while a voice called, “ Are those Mr. 
Thomas Maxwell’s step-children that they thought were 



THEIR HOMEWARD TROOUESS WAS NOT A RAPID ONE 


51 



























THE FROM A TO Z COMPANf^ 53 

drowned ?” Acknowledgment of their identity was in- 
variably the signal for questions. And if the explanations 
had been as detailed as the questioners seemed to expect, 
they would not have arrived home until dark. 

“ I think I understand why royal people, like princes 
and princesses, travel incognito,” Alice said to her brother. 
“ It’s lovely of people to care so much, but somehow you 
can’t help feeling dreadfully uncomfortable to attract so 
much attention.” 

Marian, watching from an upper porch, was the first to 
see the farm wagon and its occupants. Her joyful scream 
told the news for which everyone was waiting. Mrs. 
Maxwell went down stairs to meet the children, smiling 
bravely and trying to seem as natural as she could, in 
order to spare them as much of the inevitable shock as 
possible. Keziah, her face working oddly, and the tears 
making little water courses in the wrinkles, helped them 
to alight and kissed them every one, not even omitting 
Jake, who turned purple with embarrassment over the 
unexpected greeting, and was very much relieved to find 
that no one took any notice. 

The reunion that followed beggared description, espe- 
cially when Mr. Maxwell drove up at a gallop, and added 
his share to the confusion. Everybody asked the same 
questions over and over, and nobody paid any attention 
to the answers. All of them appeared to feel it incumbent 
on them to talk at the same time, and under ordinary cir- 
cumstances the din would have seemed deafening. To 
Marian and some of the older ones, the clatter of those 
shrill voices was the sweetest music imaginable. There 
were some tears as was to be expected, and a great deal 
of laughter, and more kisses than one could count. And 
finally Adelaide struck consternation to Keziah’s soul by 


54 


THE A TO Z COMPA-NY: 


saying wearily, “ I’d like to go back to that gooseberry 
woman’s house, ’cause I’m getting hungry again.” 

“The dear child!” exclaimed the conscience-stricken 
Keziah. “ And to think I haven’t done a thing toward 
getting dinner.” She rushed away to repair her over- 
sight, while Alice, recalled suddenly to practical matters, 
jumped to her feet. 

“ And to think I haven’t combed my hair since yester- 
day morning,” she exclaimed. “ Come upstairs, Marian, 
and help me make myself look a little more respectable 
before I see anybody else.” 

The two girls went upstairs arm in arm, but as Alice 
opened the door of the room she and Marian shared, she 
stopped short and stared, astonished. “ Why,” she ex- 
claimed, “ how queer everything looks !” 


CHAPTER VI. 

M arian cast a dismayed glance about the dis- 
mantled room. Things did indeed look queer. It 
had not occurred to her what an impression would 
be made on Alice by the bare walls and the empty spaces 
in the closet. 

“ Yes,” she answered faintly, as Alice still looked at 
her in surprise. I took some of my things away.” 

“ Some of them,” Alice repeated, with the accent on 
the first word. “ I should think you had taken them all.” 
- I— well, yes, I did.” 

“ I don't understand.” Alice began to brush her hair 
with hands that were trembling slightly. It was not 
strange that after her hard night she should be unnerved, 
and abnormally sensitive. As Marian did not seem dis- 
posed to give further information, she tried a question. 
Where did you take them ?” 

“ Into the garret,” Marian replied. 

“ Oh !” The monosyllable was wonderfully expressive. 
There was no need of further explanation, Alice thought. 
If Marian had taken her possessions and moved into the 
garret, it could be for no other reason than to get away 
from her. The girl who had been so brave in so trying 
a situation, felt her throat swelling with sobs. By a 
great effort she succeeded in keeping her eyes dry. “ Pm 
not going to show her that I care,” Alice thought, for- 
getting the good advice she had given Arthur only so 
short a ^ime before. 

Marian, for her part, was more miserable, if anything, 
than Alice herself. Her impetuous action of the day be- 
fore was very far from expressing her present mood. As 

55 


56 


THE A TO Z COMPANY.' 


she looked back to her feelings when she had prepared the 
garret room for her occupancy, she seemed to be recall- 
ing a previous state of existence. There was a great gulf 
between the girl who had been so full of resentment over 
the picnic plans, and the girl who had answered the tele- 
phone that morning, when Arthur had delivered his un- 
expected and joyful message. Unfortunately Alice had 
no means of knowing the transformation that had been 
wrought. 

It does not take a very great thing to make people 
unhappy. In the long night when Marian had lain weep- 
ing under the bare walls, it had seemed to her that if 
only the “A to Z Company should walk in upon her 
alive and well, every desire of her heart would be more 
than satisfied. And Alice, watching through the same 
long night on the river island, had felt as if to be home 
again would satisfy her completely. But the misunder- 
standing which had suddenly arisen between the two girls 
who had come so near to loving each over, threw its 
black shadow over the hearts of both. 

Nothing more was said on the subject, which was un- 
fortunate. Frankness is a cure for a great many evils. 
Had each of the two girls said what was on her mind, in 
ten minutes, at the outside, everything would have been 
amicably settled. But hurt pride kept Alice silent, and 
shame sealed Marian’s lips, and both went downstairs 
heavy-hearted. 

Fortunately nobody noticed. So many questions were 
to be asked, so many interesting things had to be ex- 
plained over and over again, that two voices were not 
missed from the cheerful hubbub. Despite her excite- 
ment, Keziah had prepared an excellent meal, to which 
the family did full justice. Even Aunt Cornelia had 


THE “F720J/ A TO Z COMPAHY:^ 


revived sufficiently to eat beef broth and laugh hysterically 
over all Adelaide’s remarks. 

The family was not allowed to finish dinner undisturbed. 
As the news spread, acquaintances from the borders of 
the town came to offer congratulations. The door-bell 
rang as incessantly as if a reception were in progress. 
The older members of the ‘‘A to Z Company ” were 
praised, and the younger were kissed and petted. As 
was to be expected, Marian was left in the background, 
but this knowledge did not affect her as it might have 
done not very long before. Perhaps the explanation was 
that she was not thinking of herself. 

“ Everybody loves them,” Marian thought. These 
young people who had come to town as strangers so short 
a time before, had won golden opinions. She alone had 
stood back and criticised. She remembered how ungra- 
ciously she had responded to Alice’s advances. The 
memory of the bare walls of her own room upstairs 
brought the hot blood to her cheeks whenever she thought 
of it. She had a hopeless feeling that now it was too late 
to help matters. Of course Alice could not know the 
change that had come over her in less than twenty-four 
hours. And not knowing, how was she to forgive? 

A number of times during the afternoon Arthur came 
over to her, and made some laboriously friendly remark. 
But as a rule it is easy to tell the difference between try- 
ing to be friendly from a sense of duty and the sponta- 
neous kindliness which bubbles up from an inexhaustible 
spring. “ He’s trying to be nice,” Marian thought, and 
sighed over the realization that the boy was making an 
effort. Meanwhile Arthur was thinking, “ She doesn’t 
act very glad that we are back again. If I hadn’t prom- 
ised Alice, I’d give the whole thing up.” 


58 


THE A TO Z COMPAI^Y: 


She did hot know how her resolution was taken. It 
was hardly characteristic, for she was a shy girl, who 
found it difficult to tell more than a fraction of what she 
felt and thought. But all at once she found herself at 
her writing-desk, scribbling very fast the first sentence 
that came into her head. 

“ The ‘ A to Z Company ’ will please meet in the library 
at four o’clock, to listen to an important communication. 
No outsiders will be allowed except the undersigned. 

“ Marian.” 

She improved the very first opportunity to slip this into 
Alice’s hand, and Alice’s face brightened as she read it. 
She had no idea of the object of the meeting, so informally 
called, but she guessed the friendliness underneath the 
summons, and forthwith felt that a weight had been lifted 
from her heart. “ We’ll come,” she smiled at Marian, 
and went to inform the others. 

Fortunately at four o’clock there was a lull in the call- 
ers. You ought to lie down, my dear,” Mr. Maxwell 
said anxiously to his wife. You have been almost too 
brave, and I’m afraid you’ll have to pay for it. As for 
Cornelia, I insist on her going to bed at once.” 

“ I think we’d all be better for a nap,” Mrs. Maxwell 
said, looking at her oldest daughter, but Alice shook her 
head mysteriously. “ We’ve got something to attend to 
first, mother. After that we may get a nap if there is 
time left before supper.” 

Alice was very curious about the summons Marian had 
issued. Several ideas which suggested themselves, she 
dismissed as improbable, though perhaps any one of her 
rejected solutions was more likely than the true one. 

The members of the ‘‘ A to Z Company ” were all in 


THE ^^FROM A TO Z COMPANY: 


69 


the library several minutes before four. The clock was 
striking when Marian appeared. She dropped into a 
chair near her writing-desk without lifting her eyes. Her 
cheeks were crimson. The others looked at her in per- 
plexity, and as she did not speak, Arthur took it on him- 
self to break the ice. 

“ The meeting will please come to order,’^ he said im- 
pressively. “ And listen to a communication from Miss 
Marian Maxwell. Alfred,’' he added severely, as his 
younger brother whispered something to Annie, who gig- 
gled aloud, “ that’s not coming to order.” 

Looking rather abashed by this reproof from the 
“ chair,” Alfred straightened himself and waited silently. 
It was plainly time for Marian’s communication, but she 
seemed to experience considerable difficulty in making it. 
Once or twice her lips parted, but no sound escaped them. 
When at last she did speak, her voice sounded hollow and 
unnatural. 

“ What I’m going to tell you,” poor Marian began with 
an effort, “ isn’t of much importance to anybody except 
me. I mean — I just want to say — well, it isn’t anything 
except that I’ve been perfectly horrid.” 

Alfred was about to cry, “ Hear ! Hear !” as he had 
been informed was customary in public meetings, caught 
himself up in time and closed his lips with an explosive 
snort. Alice sat up quickly and seemed on the point of 
speaking. 

Oh, please don’t,” Marian begged. “ It’s so hard to 
get started again. Yes, I’ve been horrid. You see I was 
used to being an only child, and then the rest of you 
came — ” 

“ Of course,” cried Alice generously, anticipating what 
was coming. “ It wasn’t strange at all.” 


60 


THE FROM A TO Z COMPAFIY: 


** It wouldn’t have been, of course, if you’d been in my 
place,” Marian retorted. “ No. I was selfish and horrid, 
and I got up make-believe grievances and was sorry for 
myself.” 

Maybe they weren’t all make-believe,” Arthur inter- 
posed, looking down. “ Lots of times I do things that 
make even Alice provoked at me.” 

Marian did not seem disposed to take advantage of any 
of these kindly suggestions. “ About that picnic,” she 
said resolutely. “ Of course I knew down in my heart 
that you didn’t want to slight me, but I pretended that 
you did, and I made myself miserable, and after you all 
had gone, I moved my things up to the garret room. 
There isn’t any excuse for it. It was just horridness, but 
I did it. And then — ” 

Marian caught her breath. As the memory of those 
dreadful hours came back, she spoke with difficulty. 

“ Then I thought you were all drowned, and I was the 
only child again, and oh, you can’t imagine how dreadful 
it was. It seemed to me that I would give everything I 
had in the world for another chance. I never dreamed 
I could get it, but I have.” 

” Oh, say !” Arthur exclaimed with an uncomfortable 
wriggle, and Adelaide spoke up from the depths of the 
biggest arm-chair where she had ensconced herself. 

“ I don’t like talk like this. It makes me choky. I’d 
rather play jack-straws.” 

It was a relief to laugh. And the next instant Arthur 
was on his feet. 

” Ladies and gentlemen, as the presiding officer of this 
meeting, I am not able to make a motion, but I wish to 
offer a suggestion. The ‘ A to Z Company ’ up to this 
minute has been strictly limited to the A. Zimmermans. 


0 



THEY MARCHED DOWNSTAIRS, TWO BY TWO 


61 



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THE “F/eo.iy A TO z company: 


63 


It seems to me the time has come for admitting an hon- 
orary member, Miss Marian Maxwell, who in my opinion 
is a brick, and an honor to any — 

Oh, yes, Arthur,” Alice cried, clapping her hands. 
‘‘ That’s splendid.” 

“ I second the motion,” shouted Alfred, with an idea 
that he was proving a knowledge of parliamentary 
usages. 

“ So do I,” shrieked Adelaide, not to be outdone, while 
Annie flew across the room and threw her arms around 
Marian’s neck. 

“ I’m not going to call you a step-cousin any more,” 
she cried. “ Or a step anything. You’re our sister, for- 
ever !” 

“ All in favor say aye,” roared Arthur. And the en- 
thusiasm of the response made it reasonably sure that 
whatever member of the family was counting on a nap 
before supper, was destined to disappointment. 

“ Just one thing more,” said Alice rather breathlessly, 
when the tumult died down. “ Marian’s things are in the 
garret room. Let’s get them back. I believe we’d sleep 
better with the pictures on the walls again.” 

“ What on earth are those youngsters making such a 
racket about?” said Mr. Thomas Maxwell to his wife, a 
moment later; and she looked at him with a beautiful 
smile. “ A heavenly racket,” she answered. “ Isn’t it 
like music, Tom? Oh, I shall never forget the dreadful 
stillness of this house not many hours back.” 

Six light-hearted young people can undo in short order 
that which has taken one despondent, downcast girl some 
time to accomplish. Long before the summons to supper, 
the pictures were back in their former places, the empty 
spaces in the closet and the bureau drawers were again 


(54 fHM "FROM A TO Z COMPANY.'* 

occupied, and the garret room had returned to its former 
emptiness. 

At six o’clock they marched downstairs two by two, the 
boys ahead, the two smaller girls in the middle, and Alice 
and Marian bringing up the rear. They sang as they 
marched, the “ Company song.” And Marian sang with 
them for the first time: 

One, two, three ! 

A to Z. 

We’re the company always gay. 

Sister and brother. 

Loving one another, 

And helping all the way.” 



DEO \ 1911 




One copy del. to Cat. Div 

DEC f 191 i 




